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Santa Cruz County Coastal Zone Map: What is the Coastal Commission? The California coast is a unique treasure loved by locals and visitors alike. To protect California’s coast and ocean for present and future generations, citizens came together in 1972 to enact the The California Coastal Conservation Initiative. Through this initiative, the Coastal Commission came into being. Four years later, the State Legislature enacted the California Coastal Act, which is the primary law that

Trump’s tax tariffs on lumber, steel and aluminum may increase the cost of new housing. In November of 2017, the US set final total tariffs for most Canadian softwood lumber producers at 20.8%. According to Aaron Terrazas, senior economist at Zillow, this caused the price of lumber to jump nearly 15% and added $6,000 to $10,000 to the cost of a newly built median-priced single family home. By contrast, the the National Association of

Have you ever known that a respected guest was coming over, and immediately started noticing all the things in your home that needed straightening up? Taking this a step further, when you put your home on the market, imagine how you’ll feel when contemplating the prospect of potential buyers walking in and out of your house during open houses and showings. If you are not planning to move your belongings out of your home before

We may be at the beginning of a market shift. Realtor.com’s Chief Economist Danielle Hale reports that Pending home sales remained lower than one year ago for the sixth consecutive month in spite of inventory beginning to become more available. Six months of declining pending home sales year over year suggests we are experiencing market movements that cannot be explained away by seasonal variation. According to Hale, a mismatch in price between what’s available

When planning your next real estate purchase or sale, imagine having up-to-date, accurate market statistics at your fingertips. The Schneider Estates Real Estate Report Dashboard allows clients to analyze local markets in depth and it’s easy to use. Watch this short tutorial and see for yourself: Save this link so that you can access the dashboard anytime: http://schneider.rereport.com/ Questions? Feel free to contact us: (831)

The installation of solar panels has been increasing for over a decade. The graph below shows total solar capacity* in California over time. According to surveys, a majority of homeowners choose to “go solar” to save money on energy bills and reduce a home’s carbon footprint. source Have you considered installing solar panels on your home or purchasing a property with solar panels? If so, it is important to understand how solar panels

Now that the Rent Control and Just Cause for Eviction measure is officially on the ballot, the counter movement has begun to gather steam. Santa Cruz Together, a grass-roots movement to stop the measure from passing, has collected $60,000 from supporters and hopes to raise up to $200,000 to fund their campaign. The California Apartment Association, nation's largest statewide trade group, has also promised to fight the ballot measure and has raised $403,000 thus

With the passage of Prop 64 and Senate Bill 94*, the Medicinal And Adult-use Cannabis Regulation And Safety Act (MAUCRSA) made the sale and taxation of commercial cannabis legal in the state of California. MAUCRSA also created the general framework for the regulation of both commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis in California. To legally cultivate, manufacture, and/or distribute cannabis, both a state and local license will be required. Additionally, both unincorporated and incorporated areas

When you purchase a mobile home on a leased-lot, you will be asked to sign a rental agreement. State law allows you a choice of signing a month-to-month or a one year agreement. The management is also allowed to offer you a long-term (more than one year) lease. Did you know that if you sign a long-term lease you may lose valuable rent-adjustment protections? There is currently a santa cruz county rent stabilization ordinance,

We spend 90% of our time indoors with minimal daylight and fresh air.
Studies suggest that daylight can improve your children’s learning abilities by up to 15%.
Living in damp and moldy homes increases risk of asthma by 40%.
Children's rooms often contain the most pollutants.
Read more in this blog post...

Buying New Homes in Santa Cruz If you are interested in buying a newer home in Santa Cruz county you may be in luck. It may seem difficult to find new homes, but it doesn't have to be. We are a team of Real Estate professionals who have lived and worked in this county for over eleven years and are well equipped to help you find a new home in Santa Cruz County.

This blog post is a spin off of the book: 100 Things Every Homeowner Must Know: How to Save Money, Solve Problems and Improve Your Home and is written in the spirit of smart-homeownership. As with most things in life, the better you get to know your home, the better you'll be able to care for and improve it. Your Plumbing and Water System In modern plumbing, a drain-waste-vent (or DWV) system is part

With the combination of heavy winter rains, ocean mist, and wooden homes, Santa Cruz homeowners and buyers needs to be especially cautious about mold. Mold can not only cause health problems, but if left untreated, can weaken your walls, ceiling, or floor. Whether it’s a musty smell, seeing mold outright, or a chronic, inexplicable cough, its important to be proactive in checking and treating mold problems. Not all mold is the same. Some types

When shopping for a home or investment property, you may consider whether or not it’s worth it to buy a condo. On one hand, condos are often less expensive in terms of the amount of space you get for your money, however HOA dues may even-out the playing field between condos and single family residential homes (SFR’s). According to this Walnut Creek lender, $100 of monthly HOA dues = $15,000+ of purchasing power on average.

What is Santa Cruz City government doing about the housing crisis? City Council is focused on the issue and has created a Housing Blueprint Subcommittee to gather community input and make suggestions. The result of this process is the Santa Cruz City Housing Blueprint. In the blueprint, subcommittee members outline “first priorities” which have been selected after considering both City Council recommendations and community feedback. They are: Community Engagement Legalization of Unpermitted Dwelling Units

Before Prop 13, there were no limits on increases for the property-tax rate. Some properties were reassessed 50% to 100% in just one year and their owners’ property tax bills increased accordingly. Under Proposition 13 tax reform, property tax value was rolled back and frozen at the 1976 assessed value level. Property tax increases on any given property were limited to no more than 2% per year as long as the property was not

When thinking of an ADU, many picture a small, free-standing building in the backyard. This kind of thinking may deter those with smaller lots from exploring the option of adding an ADU to their existing structure. This is a shame, given the additional rental income and living space that ADU’s often afford. The truth is, ADU’s come in all shapes and sizes, and under the right circumstances, even small lots can support them.

The post-World War II suburbanization of America was driven by the housing needs of nuclear families, the nation’s leading demographic. In the 1950’s when much of housing was constructed post World War II, nuclear families represented around 43% of our households. Today, nuclear families only account for 20% of America’s households, while nearly 30% of homes are made up of single adults living alone. Some other growing household-trends include single parents, young adults living at

The Costa Hawkins Act (Costa-Hawkins) allows cities to implement local rent control laws, but within specific parameters: housing constructed after 1995, single-family homes, condominiums, and townhouses are exempt from local rent control regulations. Additionally, Costa-Hawkins allows rental property owners to establish their own rates at the time of a change in tenancy. A proposed ballot initiative entitled the “Affordable Housing Act for the California November 2018 Ballot” was submitted to the California Attorney General’s

If you’ve been reading our newsletter, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the rent control and just cause for eviction ballot initiative (Renter Protection Ballot Initiative) which has been circulating through the city. The Movement for Housing Justice has submitted 10,791 signatures to the City of Santa Cruz, well above the required number of signatures needed qualify the initiative for the November polls. The group is now awaiting the results of a 30 day signature validation process.

We've written about the downsides of rent-control in recent articles, and how the more sustainable solution to our present-day housing crisis would be an increase in the supply of affordable housing. However, creating affordable housing in the second-smallest (by land area) county in the state is not an easy task. One proposed solution in Santa Cruz City involves rezoning the main corridors to allow for higher-density housing in Santa Cruz city. Unfortunately, affordable housing

"A 10 percent increase in housing costs in a county is associated with a roughly 5 percent increase in housing costs in its neighboring counties." -California Legislative Analyst Office "Historically, Santa Cruz has provided housing base for major job centers located in Silicon Valley. This relationship has been one of the major drivers of housing demand, especially for single family dwellings in the above moderate household income category. Further, jobs in Santa Clara County

Should disagreements arise, the right to evict is an important component of property rights, giving real estate owners the ability to re-gain possession of their property in difficult situations. There is a new ballot initiative that is circulating throughout the city of Santa Cruz that poses to, in many situations, take away this right. This will increase the risk of renting in the City of Santa Cruz.

The Cement Industry is One of the Primary Producers of Carbon Dioxide The cement industry is one of the primary producers of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas. The primary production of conventional concrete has a footprint of 456 to 689 pounds of carbon dioxide per 1.3 cubic yards One interesting alternative is hempcrete. JustBioFiber, a hemp-based modular block supplier, reports that its product sequesters 243 to 287 pounds of carbon dioxide per 1.3 cubic yards,

A reduction in incentives for homeownership results in strong demand in the rental market. This fact, and a new deduction on taxable income of pass-through companies suggests that landlords and other real estate investors stand to benefit from the new law.

On Tuesday, February 13th, the Santa Cruz City Council passed temporary rent freeze and a just cause for eviction ordinances for certain rental properties within the city limits (see exceptions below). This sudden action was in response to community-member complaints that, given the impending threat of a rent-control moratorium (City of Santa Cruz Rent Control and Tenant Protection Act) on the November ballot, landlords have an incentive to raise rents and evict tenants to guard

Out in the field with our buyers, we've been seeing multiple-offer situations on a number of homes, driving up the home price beyond what a reasonable comparable market analysis (CMA) would support. This is to be expected in a market like ours with tight inventory and high demand. Unfortunately, this also means that a number of buyers who rely on a mortgage for their home purchase may run into what we call, an appraisal deficiency

Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) proposed legislation on January 11th to repeal Costa-Hawkins, which would have allowed local governments to implement new rent control policies. The bill failed. But this is not the end of the rent-control battle. The California Local Rent Control Initiative, which would expand local government's authority to adopt rent control and repeal the Costa-Hawkin's Rental Housing Act may be on this year's November ballot. Locally, the Sentinel reports that

The following was announced by the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors: On February 13, 2018 the City Council of Santa Cruz will be holding two public hearings that you should be aware of. At 2 pm there is a public hearing discussing the potential passing of a relocation assistance ordinance. If passed, this ordnance would make landlords liable to tenants for relocation assistance upon eviction or rent increase. Landlords would also be subject to

If we could see air pollution, would we be more proactive about combatting it? As more comprehensive data on air and possibly other types of pollution are captured and viewed by millions of people, what will be the implications for real estate decision making? In the future could property-pricing take air pollution measurements into account? Would this motivate entire neighborhoods to proactively combat air pollution? Read about advancements in air-pollution measuring and visualizing technology in this article.